Cuomo Criticized For Ties To Committee To Save New York

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s ties to the Committee To Save New York drew criticism today from some advocacy groups and Sen. Ruben Diaz, D-Bronx.

The New York Times reported that the Cuomo administration asked gambling companies to contribute to the Committee To Save New York rather than spending their own money on ads. The committee spent more than $10 million last year to promote Cuomo’s agenda.

“Could you imagine, dear reader our Governor, the former State Attorney General, the one who is supposed to be above everybody else, better than Caesar’s wife, being associated, according to the New York Times, in a situation that, if it were anybody else, this same governor would be the first one to request an investigation by the Joint Commission on Public Integrity or appoint a special prosecutor?” Diaz said in his regular “What You Should Know” email.

The New York City activist groups Community Voices Heard and VOCAL-NY also knocked Cuomo.

“Governor Cuomo’s priorities for New York shouldn’t be driven by big money from gambling companies and other corporate interests. But what we’ve seen is the bigger the checkbook, the bigger the voice you have in state government,” the groups said in a statement. “While big money in Albany is nothing new, the Committee to Save New York’s relationship with Cuomo is taking the influence of corporate money in politics to a whole new level.”